Improvement in electric recorders



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

L. DUNNE. Electric-Recorders.

No. 206,304. Patented July 23,1878.

'- WWW? a6 fa INVEFQTOR.

ATTURN EYS- 8 Sheets--Sheet 2.

L. DUNNE. Electric-Recorders.

No. 206,304. Patented July 23,1878.

ATTORNEYS- 8 Sheets-Sheet 3..

L. DUNNE. Electric-Recorders.

No. 206,304. Patented July 23,1878.

WITNESSES ATTORN EYS,

L UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIo IMPROVEMENT IN ELECTRIC REooRbERs.

Specificai ion forming part of Letters Patent No.

206,304, dated July 23, 187 application fill-d May 18, 1878.

. 'lo all whom it may concern:

Be-it known that I, LAWRENCE DUNNE, of

vll/lorgantown, in the county of Monongalia and State of West Virginia, have invented a K new and valuable Improvement in Electric 1 'BBCOICIGIS and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description ofthe construction and operation of the same, reference being had to" the annexed drawings,

making a part of this specification," and to'the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

' The objectof ,thiseinvention is 'to produce an electrical recording-instrument by the i11 t'ermitten't actionof electro-magnets placed in an electric circuit and acting independently of each other on a single wheel, having teeth whenever the circuit'is closed, and thereby causing the wheel 'to .move forward or backward the space of one tooth at a time, andno more, and give motion to a pencil bearing on a piece of prepared paper to receive the record,

which paper isplaced on a drum revolved by cloclnmovement once in twenty-four hours, in

seven days, a fortnight, or a month, or for any other desired period of time. The mark made l by the. pencil, in consequence of the forward or backward motion of the wheel and the niov ing paper, willbe a zigzag line. This instrument is adapted for almost any variety of recording purposes-forinstance, such as high and'low water in rivers, harbors, reservoirs, canals, &c., steam-boilers, for pressure, such I as atmosphere or steam, fortemperature, as of air, blast;furnaces, Ste.

A; common alarm' is attached to the instrumm for the purpose of giv-in g warning whenever the record has'reached any particular stage necessary to be known to parties.

In the d'rawings,A represents a. toothed wheel, having the teeth and spaces of the form shown, the teethbeingtapered to a flat edge, and the spaces between the, teeth having two obtuse'angles at eachbase. The shaft of this TWheel is pivoted'at f in thejframe F, and one .of the standards 13 at theother end. The pal- 1.lets'ddare'connectediwith the arms 0 c by the elbows c 0 The pallets when at rest are just clear of the teeth of the wheel A. The detent e is placed within a tube, t, and passes through a hole in the serewcapf. This detent has a stud, 0 passing through it and projecting some distance beyond, and passing through the slots i on opposite sides of the tube 26. The detent c is acted upon by the springsin the tube f, forcing the angle-point it between theteeth of the wheel A, thereby holding the wheel in one position till released by some one'of the electro-magnets M M acting on the armatures a a and forcing the detent a downward by the arms a c pressing on the stud c. The elbows c c and armatures a e are continuations of the arms 0 c, secured to a shaft and pivoted at p p. n

, The frame F is secured to the frame B by bolts and nuts I) b. The arms 0 0 pass at opposite sides of the tube t, and rest on the studs 0 of the detent e. The thumb-screw lhas a button, I, on its end, inside the tube, for the purpose of regulating the tension of the spring 8, acting on the detent e, which also has a button at its end 0 The spring 8 is therefore confined between the detent c and thumbserew L inside the tube t.

Whenever one of the arms 00 is acted upon through the electro-magnets M M placed in an electric circuit, (but both cannot be acted upon at the same time, in consequence of the arran gements of the circuits,) the armatures a a will be attracted and the arms 0 0 will be drawn downward.

Whenever the circuit connected with the 7 magnet M is closed, said magnet will be excited and the armature a will be attracted. The arm 0 at the same time forces down the detent cby its pressing on the stud 0 Bebeing held up by means of the spring 00, its

tension being regulated by the thumb-screw vy. When the circuit is broken the armature c -ceases to be attracted, and will be acted upon by the spring m and the spring 8, acting upon the detent, will also force back the arm 0 to its original position. At thesame time the detent will be forced up and the point h I will strike to the right of the tooth g, which had been forced past it by the action of the pallet d. Hence, at the same time as the pallet is released from the tooth g, the wheel will be moved forward the remaining distance of the space by the point hof the detent, completing the forward movement of the wheel A one full space between the teeth; and the wheel is prevented from falling back, and is held in this I position till the circuit is again closed. The

magnet, M is always ready to act the instant the magnet M ceases. Now, if the current passes through the magnet M, the armature a is attracted, the arm 0 will be drawn down, the

pallet d engages the tooth g and the same effects as above described will be produced;

-, but the wheel A in this instance will take a retrograde motion, orin the direction of the arrow q. a

The pallets d d are secured to the elbows c c of the arms 0 c by set-screws c 0 or other suitabledevice, for the purpose of adjusting thepallets to the teeth of the wheel A.

The thumb-screws a n in the bed or standard E of the tube t are for adjustingfthe arms 0 0 to the stud e of the detent, soas to make them touch. The set-screws a n are for adslot to engage the grac uated bar 1- It acts as an index-hand on" the scale, and at the same time gives steadiness to the motion of the pen oil-carriage. The bar 1' is graduated to suit the particular record to be made on the paper on the drum D, which is revolved by clockmovement 0. The arm ucarries the pencil,

which is secured by a clamp and screw. The

necting the pencil-carriage with the wheel,

.said wheel being-lplaced in a corresponding suitableposition to what it is whenthe screwaxle is adopted.

H 1s a common alarm', the detentw being acted upon by an-electro-inagnet, G, in. an

i electric circuit.' A portion of the main-line currents is diverted through this magnetby means of keys or cut-ofl's. The circuit for the alarm being closed'bya spring, so, connecting with the wire to through some no'n-condu'ctin g 'material, 1 carrying it, and which is placed on the graduated bar 1?, whenthe arm'r or index-hand of the pencil carr'iage comes in contact with' the spring ac? the circuit for the alarm is closed and completed through the standards of-the instrument, and does not in H ceases passing 0 and'hcld pe pendicular by the spring a, which is connected to the binding-post 0". A

' The line-wires L L are connected to the binding-posts 0 0 which are in connection with springs s. ing-posts d d of the magnets in the register. To tr'ace the current, a stud on the wheel A comes in contact with the circuit-closcrO and forces one of the arms to press against one of the springs s 8 connected with the posts 6 c. The connection is shown in this ii gure with falling water. The current is then traced from the positive pole of the battery through wire L through the binding post c to the spring s; through the wire L; throughfitlling magnet M and key N to the alarm-magnet G through the wire WV, contact having been made by the spring as and index-hand r of the pencilcarriage K; through the standards 13 of the register; through the key N to the post p of the rising magnet M, and thence to the negative pole of the battery, completin g the circuit for the alarm and falling water. 7

v If the alarm is not required, the circuit for falling water only iscompleted through the wire a leading .to' the post p of the rising magnet, and thence to the battery, the key N of the alarm being turned off. g

The circuit for rising water may be traced in the'same manner as for falling; but the key N must be brought in. contact with the wire 40 to direct a portion of the current through thealarm-magnct, the key N always remain ing closed, as shown, when only one register *is placed in the circuit. pencil may also be moved by meansof rpm-j ion 'bein g placed on the axle of the wheel A, and engaging a toothed rack, which is made;

to carry the pencil, orby means of a cord con-'- The posts, 12 are for connecting'with other instruments placed in the Same circuits, the -current passing through all 111 the same man- 'ner, with this exception, that the wire 30 in a single station-circuit would I be placed 111 the last station ofa circuit having more than one.

registerjand omitted in all the others.,

It'inakes no difference how many reg sters are placed in circuit. The line-current can never be directed from'its through course by "opening or closing any of the alarm-keys; let them be turned-.in-every possible direction, it will not interfere with the proper worlging of the instrument at any point in the circuit. l

The arrangement of the ahove described'circuits avoids the necessity of more than 1 one I batteryto work the whole line of instruments.

"as might be. supposedattirstiglance. The battery, of course, isplac'ed at {the op- .Nolocal batteries are,-i"equired-fforj.th e alarm,

posite end of the-line to that where the'circuit' Thesewires are run to the hind Y is closed at the gage; but at the same time it i may be placed close to the gage, if desirable and convenient.

The principal advantage of this instrument is that a zigzagline is obtained by very simple devices, by the use of which the rise and fall of fluids, such as water, at, are recorded, showing the fluctuations; and at the same time the place where the circuit is closed may be placed at a considerable distance from the register.

Whatl claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The wheel A, with teeth tapering to an edge, and having two obtuse angles at their base, in combination with the pallets d (1, arms 0 0, having elbows 0 1: and the armatures a a as and forthe purposes setforth.

hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

Lam-nat on DUNNE.

\Vitnesses:

1. H. 151301;, T. lIcKENPAUGH. 

